Savannah's 2nd Birthday, AKA Sugar Rush 2011

WARNING: Long post with lots of pictures!

As cliche as it sounds, I can't believe my little girl is two. I remember almost every moment of the day she was born. She has expanded my heart, and been a catalyst to spark my efforts to live in the moment. Her magical laugh, ability to see the world with innocent eyes, and desire to love makes the world a better place.

This year she has surpassed many milestones. This year some of the big ones were walking independently and then running! Although she said her first words during her first year, this year her vocabulary grew exponentially and she can now have a conversation (some quite amusing ones too!). You can see her mind turning as she learns how things work. She can identify all her letters in sequence and out of sequence, and she can count and identify numbers 1-10. I could list others, but those are the ones of note. Although I love listing out all the things she can do and the things she has learned, what amazes me more is figuring out what makes her tick. She seems to love to be around people and is energized by them, but doesn't seem to want to be the center of attention. She love to please. Although we've had our share of temper tantrums, I thinks she has an amazing amount of patience for a two year old, especially when she's figuring out how a toy works or building something. She love blocks and anything she can do with her hands. She LOVES to push up a chair by the counter and help me "cook." She loves to kiss on her brother and gets so upset when he cries. It's so neat to see her imagination at work. She loves to play ring around the rosies with her animals and have them "talk" to each other. Just like any toddler, she loves her routine. Anything that's a group/family activity, she will likely want to join in. I can't believe she's a part of us, and I can't believe I ever existed without her. Happy Birthday Savannah! I can't wait to see what next year holds!

Now, on to the PARTY! I think the over-decorated, big deal child's birthday party is a phenomenon of our generation. I don't know when this started, but there's a huge market out there for child's birthday decorations and theme ideas. I know all this is not necessary at all, but I can't help it! I have loved planning and throwing both of her birthday parties and I want all of them to be special. Of course you don't have to spend a lot of money for it to be special; all that really matters (in my humble opinion) it that she's surrounded by the people that love her. And I think you really have to ask yourself when planning, "Am I doing this for her or for everyone else?" I complain about being exhausted during and after something like this, but I have grown to love planning and decorating for things like this. To me, there is nothing better than seeing an idea come together, watching everyone enjoy themselves, and being with those that you love.

We did a "Sweet Shop" theme this year. I wanted to do something that would be easy as far as getting inspiration and decoration. There are TONS of ideas out there online for this type of party. All the beautiful colors made it pretty easy to decorate.

The cake was from Create a Cake by Diana. To become a fan on facebook, go HERE. The printed decor was from Epie May craft on Etsy. To check out her Etsy shop, go HERE. Many of the foods I served were Deceptively Delicious of course. You can read about that HERE. I was nervous about sneaking veggies into most of my dishes, but I think people actually really liked the food! Everything else was my creation, whether it be a borrowed idea or (gasp!) an idea of my own!

Enjoy!

Gumdrop wreath I made

Food! "Deceptive" foods included: chicken nuggets, meatballs, and macaroni.

The little people got to decorate a cupcake. I made the cupcakes. They were sparkly pink and yellow.

Precious little girls decorating their cupcakes.

Birthday banner by Epsie May Crafts on Etsy

Invite by Epsie May Craft

Photo garland by ME! (Meredith taught me how to make on last year)

Each little one got to take home a bouncy ball disguised as a giant piece of candy. I saw this idea online where someone used the ball as a decor, but I came up with the idea to do this as a favor.

Lolly favors. Favor tags from Epsie May crafts and lollies from Oriental Trading.

Candy Bar sign from Epsie May Crafts

The Candy Bar. The jars came from various places or were things I already had. The candy came from Sams and Oriental Trading.

Digital Photobook from Kodak Gallery. I wish I was a scrapbooker, but this works much better for me! I figure I'll make one every year. I also had a slideshow playing with music on our computer.

Cake from Create a Cake by Diana. How cute is that?

Me and my "sweetie." Sign from Epsie May Crafts. We covered our roman shades with shiny red wrapping paper.

My amazing family. How did I get so lucky?